COWBOYS DRAFT GRADE ROUNDUP: The true verdict on the Cowboys' 2013 draft class won't be in for a few years, but that won't stop draft experts from across the county from weighing in on how Dallas fared. Here's a roundup of draft grades given to the Cowboys by writers around the nation.

When the Cowboys convene their rookie minicamp on
Friday, medical concerns about the players in attendance won’t steal the
headlines.

Sure, running back Joseph Randle, a fifth-round pick, has an injured thumb.
But by and large, the newest draft class is set to arrive with a clean bill of
health.

A year ago, that wasn’t the case.

Last May, Morris Claiborne, the sixth overall pick of the 2012 draft, was
sidelined. In the spring, he had undergone surgery to repair a damaged tendon in
his left wrist that caused him to miss the Cowboys’ organized team
activities.

He then sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee in August,
forcing him to the sideline during a portion of training camp.

As Claiborne struggled to stay on the field, many outsiders wondered if the
rookie cornerback was going to become the latest Cowboys draft choice with a
questionable medical history to continue to accumulate body damage in the
pros.

As it turned out, Claiborne played in 15 games, missing only one contest
because of a concussion. But many of the other members in his draft class
weren’t as fortunate. Three of the seven never played in 2012.

Linebacker Caleb McSurdy ripped up his Achilles tendon in training camp in
August. Receiver Danny Coale suffered a stress fracture in his foot last May,
was cut before the regular season, and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in
his left knee while on the practice squad in November. And safety Matt Johnson
was never activated after he hurt both hamstrings.

Johnson, a fourth-round choice, would became the poster child of the group —
in part because his health has been an issue since he suffered a left biceps
tendon subluxation in September 2011 that ended his career at Eastern Washington
prematurely.

Johnson was the most recent player the Cowboys had drafted with a dicey
medical record who ended up being sidelined because of injury in the
professional ranks. Among the others who preceded him were three players who are
now major contributors — Sean Lee, Bruce Carter and DeMarco Murray.

In 2010, the Cowboys selected Lee, a Penn State linebacker, in the second
round.

Lee had impressive credentials. But he also had shredded the ACL in his right
knee in 2008. Since joining the Cowboys, he has been out of commission because
of a pulled hamstring, dislocated left wrist and torn ligaments in his right big
toe.

“If I want to be an effective player,” Lee said, “I have to be on the
field.”

But Lee missed the final 10 games last season. The week before Lee was
injured, Murray, a 2011 third-round pick, sprained his left foot, forcing the
running back to sit out the next six games. Murray’s injury was particularly
harmful to a weak rushing offense. But the fact that Murray got hurt wasn’t
surprising.

Murray, after all, has a reputation for accruing wear and tear. He fractured
his right ankle late in his rookie season and was hampered by turf toe, a
dislocated kneecap, a sprained ankle and a ruptured hamstring tendon at
Oklahoma.

Carter could empathize with the running back’s plight. He entered the NFL as
a second-round choice while recovering from a torn ACL in his left knee suffered
his senior season at North Carolina.

After spending his rookie campaign as a reserve, Carter burst on the scene
last season. But like Murray, Carter couldn’t stay on the field. He suffered a
dislocated left elbow in November and missed the last five games.

It was a bitter blow for the Cowboys, who took calculated risks by drafting
Lee, Carter and Murray, only to see the worst possible outcome unfold right
before their eyes.

Whether the Cowboys wanted to avoid a similar fate with the players they
drafted this year is uncertain. But none of them have had major injuries in
college that lingered.

Center Travis Frederick’s worst setback happened his freshman season of 2009,
when the first-round choice out of Wisconsin suffered a high ankle sprain that
sidelined him for eight games.

That same year, Georgia Southern safety J.J. Wilcox, a third-round selection,
was out for three games because of a foot injury. But Frederick and Wilcox would
miss only one more game because of injury the rest of their college careers.
Linebacker DeVonte Holloman, a sixth-round pick out of South Carolina, proved
similarly dependable.

The only contest in which Holloman did not participate because of a medical
issue was a victory over Florida in 2011, when he was still woozy from a
concussion suffered the week before.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys’ other picks — Randle of Oklahoma State, San Diego
State tight end Gavin Escobar, Baylor receiver Terrance Williams and William
& Mary cornerback B.W. Webb — appeared in every game in which they were
eligible to play for their college teams.

“We spend a lot of time on these players throughout the evaluation process
over the last months carefully evaluating the health issue of any player,”
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said.

For a team that dealt with so many injuries last season, it may have been an
even greater priority this year. Health remains a major topic of discussion at
Valley Ranch. But for the most part, it doesn’t concern the Cowboys’ latest
draft class. And they seem thankful for that.

Follow Rainer Sabin on Twitter at @RainerSabinDMN

Limited contributions

The Cowboys drafted RB DeMarco Murray and LBs Sean
Lee and Bruce Carter in the top three rounds despite serious health concerns. A
look at their pro careers:

DeMarco Murray

Drafted: 2011

Round: 3

Pick: 71

Games played: 23 of 32

Notable: A fractured right ankle in 2011 and a sprained left
foot in 2012 have slowed Murray.

Sean Lee

Drafted: 2010

Round: 2

Pick: 55

Games played: 35 of 48

Notable: Lee landed on injured reserve last season after
tearing ligaments and the plantar plate in his right big toe.

Bruce Carter

Drafted: 2011

Round: 2

Pick: 40

Games played: 21 of 32

Notable: An ACL injury delayed Carter’s NFL debut. He then
dislocated his left elbow last season.

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